Steel Mills' Profit Margins to Fluctuate at a Low Level in March amid the Simultaneous Rise in Prices of Raw Materials and Steel

SHANGHAI, Mar 8 (SMM) - The most-traded SHFE 2304 aluminium contract opened at 18,530 yuan/mt overnight before closing at 18,475 yuan/mt, down 195 yuan/mt or 0.89%.

Overnight, LME lead opened at $2,111/mt, and plummeted to the lowest point at $2,072.mt due to the unexpected hawkish remark from Powell, and finally closed at $2,086.5/mt, a decrease of 0.9%.

SHANGHAI, Mar 7 (SMM) - In February, the capacity utilisation rates of mines in Hebei showed an upward trend.

As far as the global lithium market is concerned, the increase in the world's known reserves could further depress the price of the metal, which of course ultimately depends on Iran's ability to produce and export lithium, which, unlike other minerals, is expensive and difficult to extract.

According to SMM research, a cold-rolled coil factory in south China started a one-week production suspension for maintenance today.

Henan Province Pollution Reduction and Carbon Reduction Synergistic Efficiency Action Plan was issued, proposing to support key industries such as steel, coking, and cement through capacity replacement,

The average operating rate of Chinese magnesium ingot producers in January 2023 was 55.04%, down 2.82% on the month and 22.18% on the year.

According to the current production schedule of POSCO, the shutdown is expected to reduce the stainless steel output by around 10,000 mt. However, since the typhoon is not controllable, follow-up changes still need to be monitored.

As of 9:46 a. m., SHFE nickel prices dropped 3.06%. In the spot market, on August 23, the average price of SMM #1 refined nickel was 181,600 yuan/mt, down 0.16% from the previous trading day.

According to customs data, China imported 909,100 mt of petroleum coke in July, a month-on-month decrease of 31.8% or 423,800 mt and a year-on-year decrease of 6.07%.